Canine Oral Melanoma Treatment
Canine melanoma is traditionally treated with surgery and/or radiation therapy for the local tumor, surrounding tissues and local lymph nodes. Supporting therapy is often required to control the growth of distant (metastatic) cancer cells.1,2
Traditionally, the most popular option for supporting therapy for many cancers was chemotherapy. But some cancers, such as canine melanoma, are known to be highly resistant to chemotherapy.2 In fact, chemotherapy may do little to prolong survival in cases of canine oral melanoma.1,2 This is why many researchers have focused on immunotherapy as a potential therapy for controlling the growth of tumor cells.
Recently, ONCEPT® Canine Melanoma Vaccine, DNA was fully licensed by the USDA and is now available to specialists practicing veterinary oncology. ONCEPT has been used in dogs with stage II or stage III canine oral melanoma to support surgery and/or radiation therapy and prolong survival time.3
1 | Bergman PJ, et al. Development of a xenogeneic DNA vaccine program for canine malignant melanoma at the Animal Medical Center. Vaccine 2006;24:4582-4585. |
2 | Bergman PJ, et al. Long-Term Survival of Dogs with Advanced Malignant Melanoma after DNA Vaccination with Xenogeneic Human Tyrosinase: A Phase I Trial. Clinical Cancer Research 2003;9:1284-1290. |
3 | Data on file at Merial. Study 05-171. 2009 |